Tax-Funded Web Site Puts Teens At Risk With Advice on How to Get A Secret Abortion
Mary Hamed at Americans United for Life reports on a tax-payer funded web site in Massachusetts that gives teens advice on how to get an abortion, including information on how to do so without telling their parents. From the article “When Maria Talks, Teens Should Not Listen”:
How would you feel if you learned that your state government was promoting a medical procedure to your teenage daughter – one that carries risks of blood clots, infection, pelvic inflammatory disease, injury to her cervix (including cervical lacerations), injury to her other organs, future miscarriages and complicated pregnancies, infertility, hysterectomy, hemorrhage, depression, anxiety, increased risk of future drug and alcohol abuse, and even death (from the procedure or suicide) – and was coaching her on how to avoid informing you or seeking your permission to obtain it? As preposterous as it may sound, the State of Massachusetts is doing exactly that – promoting abortion and guiding teens on how to avoid state-required parental consent – and is using taxpayer funds to do it.
The website www.mariatalks.com [1] funded through grants from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, provides dangerously incomplete information about abortion to minors. The website, written in the voice of a teenager, “Maria,” describes an abortion as: “when the contents of the womb (uterus) are removed, so that the uterus goes back to how it was before a woman got pregnant.” The description curiously fails to mention that the “contents of the womb” include an unborn baby.
Perhaps even more troubling, under the question heading “Is it safe?,” Maria writes: “Yes. My Aunt Lucia says that abortions are safe and effective, though some people may experience temporary discomfort. She also says that early abortions have less risk than those done later in the pregnancy.” …
Hamed also points out:
Maria’s advice also offers no help to teens who are facing coercion, abuse, or duress. While she flippantly says that “it is your right to decide what to do without feeling judged, pressured or criticized,” she does not address what a teen should do when a boyfriend, boyfriend’s parent, or even her own family are coercing her to have an abortion against her will.
The site also makes no mention of what teens should do it they are being sexually abused or exploited, even though abortion is often used as a tool by sexual predators to hide and continue abuse.
Research on teens who have abortions has found that:
- Teens are more likely to abort because of pressure from their parents or partner, more likely to report being misinformed in pre-abortion counseling, and more likely to have greater difficulty coping after abortion.
- Teens who abort unintended pregnancies are five times more likely to seek subsequent help for psychological and emotional problems compared to their peers who carry unintended pregnancies to term.
- Teens are 6 times more likely to attempt suicide if they have had an abortion in the last six months than are teens who have not had an abortion.
- Teens who abort are more likely to develop psychological problems, and are nearly three times more likely to be admitted to mental health hospitals than teens in general. [Source]
Read the entire article here. You can learn more about the risks and issues facing teens in our Special Report on Teens and Abortion.
Resources and Support for Teens
Resources to help teens who are pregnant or struggling after abortion can be found in our Help & Healing Guide or on this web page.
Teens or women who are being coerced or forced to abort can seek legal help to stop an unwanted abortion from the Center Against Forced Abortions, a project of the Justice Foundation. The Center can be reached by email at info@txjf.org or by phone at (210) 614-7157.
